Create tools that will help you analyze data faster.

For example, application logs usually contain a lot of information, which is good if you are looking at a specific problem, but if you want to see the big picture, all those details make it hard to identify trends and patterns.

The solution: Build the tools that can parse the logs and give you exactly the information you need. You can create a standalone script that you run manually, which generates a report, or you can run it as a cron job and feed the data into a web app or a mobile app that will handle the presentation logic.